"And in those simple beautiful movements I remembered what was really important in training; that consistency trumps intensity; all the time. That intensity is born from consistency. That one cannot force it, one has to lay in wait for it, patiently, instinctively, calmly and be ready to grab it when Grace lays it down in front of you."

The Master sees things as they are, without trying to control them.He lets them go their own way, and resides at the center of the circle.LaoziDaode Jing

Whatever feelings arise – whether pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral – abide contemplating impermanence in those feelings, contemplate fading away, relinquishment, letting go of all those feelings. Contemplating this one does not cling to anything in this world. When not clinging, there is no agitation. When not agitated one personally attains Nibbana.Buddha c. 563-483 BCE, Indian Prince, Mystic, Founder of Buddhism

One who has finally learned that it is in the nature of objects to come and go without ceasing, rests in detachment and is no longer subject to suffering.Ashtavakra Gita Ancient Sanskrit Sacred Text

You are only to perform your duty without an eye on their fruits.Bhagavad Gita, II.70400 BCE, Sanskrit Poem in Mahabharata, Sacred Hindu Text

How to live the good life? The ability is in your soul, as long as it remains unattached to things that are morally neutral to it. And the soul will remain unattached if it carefully scrutinizes each of these neutral things both as a whole, and by separation into the elements that compose them. Remember that none of these things are responsible for creating our conception about them; these things are motionless and so can’t even approach us. It is we ourselves who create ideas about things, and, as we might say, drag them inside ourselves. It is in our power not to include them, and even if these conceptions have unconsciously gained admission to our minds, to erase them.Marcus Aurelius 121-180, Roman Emperor, Stoic PhilosopherThe Spiritual Teachings of Marcus Aurelius, Mark Forstater, tr., 2000

The six supernormal faculties of the enlightened are the ability to enter the realm of form without being confused by form, to enter the realm of sound without being confused by sound, to enter the realm of scent without being confused by scent, to enter the realm of flavor without being confused by flavor, to enter the realm of feeling without being confused by feeling, to enter the realm of phenomena without being confused by phenomena.Linji Yixuan d. 867, Chinese Chan Master, Linji (Rinzai) School Founderin Zen Essence: The Science of Freedom, Thomas Cleary, tr. & ed., 1989

Once you realize universal emptiness, all situations are naturally mastered. You have perfect communion with what is beyond the world, while embracing what is within all realms of being.Fenyang Shanzhao 947-1024, Chinese Chan Buddhist Masterin Zen Essence: The Science of Freedom, Thomas Cleary, tr. & ed., 1989

Just detach from thoughts and cut off sentiments and transcend the ordinary conventions. Use your own inherent power and take up its great capacity and great wisdom right where you are.Yuanwu Kekin1063-1135, Chinese Chan MasterZen Letters: Teachings of Yuanwu, J. C. Cleary & Thomas Cleary, trs., 1994

Live in the nowhere that you come from,Even though you have an address here.Jalaluddin Rumi 1207-1273, Afghani-Turkish Sufi Mystic, Poet

Many times the mountainsHave turned from green to yellow.So much for the capricious earth!Dust in your eyes,The triple world is narrow;Nothing on the mind,Your chair is wide enough.Muso Kokushi 1275-1351, Japanese Zen Master, Calligrapher, Poet

Desire nothing, and you’re content with everythingPursue things, and you’re thwarted at every turn.Ryokan 1758-1831, Japanese Zen Master, Poet, Calligrapher

Detachment is not indifference. It is the prerequisite for effective involvement. Often what we think is best for others is distorted by our attachment to our opinions: we want others to be happy in the way we think they should be happy. It is only when we want nothing for ourselves that we are able to see clearly into others’ needs and understand how to serve them.Mahatma Gandhi 1869-1948, Indian Spiritual Leader

By detachment I mean that you must not worry whether the desired result follows from your action or not, so long as your motive is pure, your means correct.Gandhiin Eknath Easwaran, Gandhi, The Man, 1997

To renounce things is not to give them up. It is to acknowledge that all things go away.Shunryu Suzuki 1905-1971, Japanese Zen Master

To desire in the void, to desire without any wishes. To detach our desire from all good things and to wait. Experience proves that this waiting is satisfied. It is then that we touch the absolute good.Simone Weil 1909-1943, French Philosopher, Essayist, Mysticin The Enlightened Mind: An Anthology of Sacred Prose, Stephen Mitchell, ed., 1991

My soul does not find itself unless it acts. Therefore it must act. Stagnation and inactivity bring spiritual death. But my soul must not project itself entirely into the outward effects of its activity. I do not need to see myself, I merely need to be myself. I must think and act like a living being, but I must not plunge my whole self into what I think and do, or seek always to find myself in the work I have done.Thomas Merton 1915-1968, American Trappist Monk, WriterNo Man Is an Island, 1955

From the moment that a man no longer responds in the slightest to the motives that regulate the material world, that world appears to be at complete repose.Yukio Mishima 1935-1970, Japanese Writer“The Priest of Shiga Temple and His Love,”Death in Midsummer and Other Stories, 1966

To become free of attachment means to break the link identifying you with your desires. The desires continue: They are part of the dance of nature. But a renunciate no longer thinks that he is his desires.Ram Dass 1931-, American Psychologist, Teacher, WriterBe Here Now, 1971

Looking at life’s situations from a distance is the first step toward finding a solution and preventing them from happening again. By separating yourself from your experiences, you are able to move on with your life. If you don’t, you’re stuck in the puddle of the past without a paddle.Famous Amos 1937-, African-American Athlete, EntrepreneurWatermelon Magic, 1996

Much of our inner turbulence reflects the fear of loss: our dependence on people, circumstances, and things not really under our control. On some level we know that death, indifference, rejection, repossession, or high tide may leave us bereft in the morning. Still, we clutch desperately at things we cannot finally hold. Nonattachment is the most realistic of attitudes. It is freedom from wishful thinking, from always wanting things to be otherwise.Marilyn Ferguson 1938-, American Writer, Mind ResearcherThe Aquarian Conspiracy, 1980